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“Yes, you are.” I was his very own personal cheerleader and I embraced my role dutifully, not just because I wanted to, but because I knew that Garret would fall apart if I didn’t.
He needed me, and that made me feel important enough to stick by his side through thick and thin.
After what seemed like an eternity, the receptionist stood up, ironed out the pleats in her skirt with her palms and gave us a strained nod.
“Mayor Beech is ready for you now.”
Mayor Beech opened the door and gave us each scrutinizing glances, obviously sizing us up. He cleared his throat unnecessarily loudly.
“Please, come in.” He didn’t even bother apologizing for the wait he’d made us endure, showing off his blatant rudeness.
He pointed to a pair of pine green chairs in front of his desk. “Take a seat,” he directed as he maneuvered around his desk and plopped down with a heavy sigh. He adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and gave us each a sullen look. “What can I do for you today?”
Garret balled his fists at his sides. “You know damn well why we’re here.”
I impulsively stiffened at Garret’s reaction to the start of the conversation.
“Remember to stay calm,” I mouthed to him out of the corner of my mouth.
Garret’s eyes flickered with defiance. “I know that you have been taking bribes to get my club shut down.”
“Bribes?” Mayor Beech’s expression was infuriatingly smug. “I don’t know anything about any bribes.”
“Stop denying it,” Garret said, raising his voice threateningly as he shot an accusatory glower at Beech. He clenched his teeth.
“I don’t have anything to deny,” the mayor shrugged indifferently and with feigned innocence that even a monkey would be able to see through.
“Are you saying that you didn’t get paid by a certain someone to have city officials come to my club at odd hours of the night and shut it down over trivial matters?” Garret asked in a sharp tone.
“I haven’t done anything of the sort.” Mayor Beech looked offended, but he wasn’t diligently trying to hide his guilt either. In fact, he seemed downright proud of it, and in no way ashamed at the accusations. “I’ve received a few anonymous tips that I’ve had to perform due diligence to investigate. That’s part of my job as mayor, you know.”
The mayor chuckled as if that much should be obvious and that we were somehow beneath his intelligence level. Of course, we knew better, but we let the cocky asshole think he was ahead for now. We still had more tricks up our sleeves to get him to crack eventually.
The mayor had an arrogant attitude that made me want to smack him, but I resisted the temptation and remained poised in my seat. It was almost as if he was bursting to give up the secret and confess to everything but had been sworn to secrecy.
“Where did you get that fancy car that’s parked out front?” Garret said, gesturing toward the window. “I saw it coming in, parked right in the spot designated for you, the mayor.”
“Excuse me?” For the first time since our meeting began, the mayor appeared caught off guard.
“Yeah,” Garret casually continued to point out the window with a cynical frown. “That looks like a really nice, expensive black Tesla out there. I would assume that reaches far beyond the salary of the city’s mayor.”
Beech had a visible line of sweat beading on his brow line, but he didn’t falter. “I won it.”
“You won it?” Garret mocked, giving me a pretend surprised glance. “Wow, how lucky are you?”
“Lucky indeed.” The mayor beamed, but we had him backed into a corner he would soon not be able to squirm his way out of.
I could feel Garret’s irritated energy beginning to rise beside me. His temper was going to get the best of him if I didn’t find a way to somehow defuse the situation.
“I know you’re lying, and you need to come clean before I expose you for what you are,” Garret shouted. He had reached his boiling point. “You are a fraud. You were paid off in skeevy dealings to have my club shut down with one bogus claim after another.”
Garret was standing up now, wagging a convicting finger at Charles Beech. The vein in his neck bulged. His temperament was usually collected and disciplined. His behavior had manifested directly from the injustice posed against him, and I felt sorry for him.
Even though Garret had the upper hand, I felt compelled to step in and water down Garret’s frustration.
“Is that a picture from your college days?” I asked Mayor Beech, pointing to a framed photo of a group of men standing in front of a fraternity house with the seal of their house displayed on a banner in front of them.
“It is.” Mayor Beech grinned proudly.
